Small Business Researchhttp://small-business-research.co.uk
How they work - what they wantTue, 30 Aug 2016 14:06:14 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.727939269How best to use social media to support your sales and marketinghttp://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/11/sales-and-marketing-basics/
http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/11/sales-and-marketing-basics/#respondMon, 05 Nov 2012 15:27:51 +0000http://small-business-research.co.uk/?p=93read more]]>

Last week I was invited to talk about how best to use social media at the Creative Digifest at Southampton University. This brought together some interesting presentations on privacy in social media, the setting up of a web observatory plus some more artistic applications of using multiple photographs to reproduce art objects with a 3D printer and a fascinating mobile music demonstration.

I was asked to do a presentation on how best to use Social Media for Small Business based on our current research programmes. Afterwards Simon Morice (who’s team were recording the conference) interviewed me. The bottom line is go out and meet people rather than sitting in the bunker playing with facebook and twitter. How you should use social media to support your activity is outlined in the video.

Hope it’s useful

]]>http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/11/sales-and-marketing-basics/feed/093What issues do small companies struggle with?http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/08/what-issues-do-small-companies-struggle-with/
http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/08/what-issues-do-small-companies-struggle-with/#respondThu, 02 Aug 2012 12:48:09 +0000http://small-business-research.co.uk/?p=87read more]]>We’ve been running a survey into what holds companies back from performing as well as they would like.

We’ve now got over 100 responses to this so it’s worth sharing the headlines with you.

We’ve taken a balanced scorecard approach to this so in effect we’ve asked a headline Question around the major subject areas and then drilled down into each one.

Here are the headline findings. People were asked about how well they handled a range of issues. The scores they were asked to use were

I really struggle with this

It really needs improving

It’s ok but needs some work

I’m really on top of this

As you can see they all scored between 2 and 3 – the lower the score the worse the performance

Business barriers in small comapanies

As you can see they feel most comfortable about their ability to cope with Visions and staff motivation issues and least optimistic about their ability to manage their cash and acquire and retain new customers.

We’ll present some of the more detailed findings soon.

]]>http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/08/what-issues-do-small-companies-struggle-with/feed/087Digital Business Community research projecthttp://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/06/digital-business-community-research-project/
http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/06/digital-business-community-research-project/#respondFri, 15 Jun 2012 08:14:20 +0000http://small-business-research.co.uk/?p=80read more]]>Please take our survey to help design our Digital Business Community.

I’m running a research project for a major London University to help companies use digital techniques to improve performance. Your input to our survey thatexplores which topics interest you most and how you prefer to acquire know-how would be really helpful.

We all know that working digitally lets you communicate with a much greater range of customers and collaborators. Social media, mobile and cloud computing and the tools for creating digital marketing materials greatly expand the richness and reach available to your company.

But it entails a steep learning curve.

We all need to acquire up to date and practical information. Some insights lie with practitioners, others lie within the research work and collaborative projects carried out by universities.So an effective network to link practitioners, academics and business people would create a knowledge base worth accessing.

Your help in defining the facilities and services of such a network will be invaluable.

The survey is carried out on behalf of a major London university and your data will be kept confidential at all times. I’m an Associate of the Market Research Society and so bound by their code of conduct

]]>http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/06/digital-business-community-research-project/feed/080Do Corporates Actually get Social Media? #sb100http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/05/do-corporates-actually-get-social-media-sb100/
http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/05/do-corporates-actually-get-social-media-sb100/#respondWed, 30 May 2012 10:20:30 +0000http://small-business-research.co.uk/?p=78read more]]>I’ve had the interesting experience this year of being asked to be a judge for the top 100 social media brands. The launch event is tonight and the report is now available here.

The number crunching analysis had all been carried out by the organisers Brandwatch and Headstream. As judges we were asked to comment on whether:

1. For the main part, the brand provides value based content in its social spaces, rather than focusing on pushing traditional marketing ‘messages’

2. The brand provides a consistent presence on its social platforms, demonstrating an ‘always-on’ approach to community engagement

3. The brand prioritises the community over its own agenda, valuing and responding to the community’s contributions, needs and ideas

4. Overall, there is the sense that the brand has established a powerful community spirit across social spaces – a certain ‘Social Brand Factor’ that’s hard to define, but undeniably present.

Faced with the task of evaluating 100 different brands I quickly came up with a couple of surrogate measures of how the companies were engaging. One was to look at their twitter stream to see if there was any evidence of re tweeting anyone else’s comments. The other was to look at their Facebook page and see if anyone other than the brand was doing any posting.

I won’t comment on the individual final positions (except to say that Innocent deservedly won) but what I found fascinating was that, at least as far as I could see, small companies and the cause related sites interacted quite well with their customers whereas for the Corporate world it was broadcasting as usual.

]]>http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/05/do-corporates-actually-get-social-media-sb100/feed/078University Research Projecthttp://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/05/university-research-project/
http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/05/university-research-project/#respondTue, 08 May 2012 09:58:59 +0000http://small-business-research.co.uk/?p=73read more]]>I’m currently doing a research project for a University interested in what parts of their new media, business and computing offers could be interesting for small and medium companies.

I’ll be promoting a proper questionnaire in due course but in the meantime I’ve created a test questionnaire which asks a little bit about what things the University might be able to provide that would be useful to you – it also asks a few questions about what IT tools you use and what barriers you find to the growth of your own business.

]]>http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/05/university-research-project/feed/073Small companies effective online.http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/01/small-companies-effective-online/
http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/01/small-companies-effective-online/#commentsThu, 19 Jan 2012 09:38:31 +0000http://small-business-research.co.uk/?p=61read more]]>Last summer we carried out some research for Yell. Here is Yell’s own press release summary of some of the findings. From European Association of Directory and Database Publishers – original post here.

Competing online is enabling small businesses to outmanoeuvre larger players, according to groundbreaking new research from Yell and the University of Southampton. In a unique series of in-depth, blind focus groups, more than 200 consumers were asked to compare websites of smaller and larger competitor firms, without knowing which was the bigger enterprise. Consumers were frequently unable to tell which was bigger — and consistently plumped for the smaller firm when asked to select their preferred provider.

David Trumps Goliath

Despite the huge sums large companies spend developing and optimising their websites, smaller businesses came out on top in the majority of focus groups.

In a series of ‘head-to-head’ comparisons, more respondents chose the smaller firm as their preferred supplier in almost two thirds (64%) of focus groups. The larger player won out in only a fifth (21%) of experiments.

Even when votes were calculated on an individual participant basis, the majority of people (51%) chose the smaller business, compared to only a third (36%) who opted for the larger firm.

Richard Hanscott, CEO, Yell UK, comments: “Our unique research illustrates how digital marketing has torn down the traditional barriers to promotion, allowing small businesses to compete with larger players like never before.

“No matter what the industry, investing time in an effective digital presence will open your business up to a wider market and help attract new customers.”

Sizing It Up

Yell’s experiment demonstrates how the online space has blurred perceptions of company size and made scale unimportant to consumers.

When asked which they thought was the larger concern, almost two fifths of participants (37%) were unable to tell.

In addition, only a quarter of consumers (25%) rated company size as an important influence when looking for products and services.

Keep It Real

Yell’s research also evaluated what makes consumers trust potential suppliers online, finding that authenticity, simplicity and proximity are the traits that win consumers’ confidence.

– Authenticity

When looking online for a supplier, the vast majority of consumers look for a sense of the people behind the business (71%).

A prominently displayed address or location (78%) and phone number (77%) are also highly important influencers, as customers seek reassurance of an authentic, human presence behind the business.

– Simplicity

Even more (81%) cite easy-to-find information as very important to making a purchasing decision. Easy-to-read descriptions (75%) and a simple approach (66%) also scored highly.

– Proximity

Close to half of consumers (43%) place high importance on a business being local to them.

Richard Hanscott comments: “Contrary to perceived wisdom, consumers are not reassured by dealing with a large firm or brand online. In fact, the opposite is the case.

“The factors driving consumers’ online behaviour offer a unique advantage to SMEs over their larger competitors. Customers are influenced by trust in the company, ease of access to information and locality.

“This presents a clear opportunity for smaller firms to give themselves a competitive edge via their online presence, by presenting the human face of the business and promoting their ability to deliver a more personal service.”

The Power of Reviews

In terms of social media, consumers placed the highest importance on positive reviews and recommendations — a significant influence for almost two thirds (64%) of consumers. In contrast, a Facebook (31%) or Twitter (28%) presence is vital to less than a third of consumers.”

Ends…

Over the next couple of posts we’ll unpack some of the findings for you in more detail

]]>http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/01/small-companies-effective-online/feed/161Premature Scaling – part 2http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/01/premature-scaling-part-2/
http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/01/premature-scaling-part-2/#commentsTue, 17 Jan 2012 10:58:31 +0000http://small-business-research.co.uk/?p=52A second Graphic which goes into the basics behind the premature scaling model in more detail.

Heartily Recommended and essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the reality of small business life and how they behave.

]]>http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/01/premature-scaling-part-2/feed/152Why small Businesses Fail – premature scaling part 1http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/01/why-small-businesses-fail-premature-scaling-part-1/
http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/01/why-small-businesses-fail-premature-scaling-part-1/#respondFri, 06 Jan 2012 07:45:17 +0000http://small-business-research.co.uk/?p=50This is probably the most valuable and informative business graphic I’ve seen in a long time.

I’d advise you to look at it in detail as it’s got a lot of meat in it about when to go forward and when to hold back at different stages of the business.

]]>http://small-business-research.co.uk/2012/01/why-small-businesses-fail-premature-scaling-part-1/feed/050Small Business Marketing – some findingshttp://small-business-research.co.uk/2011/12/small-business-marketing-some-findings/
http://small-business-research.co.uk/2011/12/small-business-marketing-some-findings/#respondFri, 16 Dec 2011 06:41:08 +0000http://small-business-research.co.uk/?p=45Paper presented at conference in Antalya Turkey, 2009. Summarises some of the headline findings from our small business networking projects

]]>http://small-business-research.co.uk/2011/12/small-business-marketing-some-findings/feed/045How small companies market themselves.http://small-business-research.co.uk/2011/12/how-small-companies-market-themselves/
http://small-business-research.co.uk/2011/12/how-small-companies-market-themselves/#respondTue, 13 Dec 2011 15:49:11 +0000http://small-business-research.co.uk/?p=35read more]]>Some time ago we carried out a research project for BNI (Business Networking International) looking at how small companies promoted themselves and what made them use online tools rather than face to face activity. We interviewed a wide range of businesses from Europe and the UK. Europe and Asia.

On average small company owners spend between 12-15 hours a week promoting themselves. in practice carry out a lot of face to face networking backed up with PR and some on line advertising. Things that they don’t do are use leaflet drops or local postcards which for many of them would be quite effective.

Because our sponsor is a networking organisation we drilled down into the way in which the companies networked. It turns out that most want a home group to network with which usually consists of 20-30 other people. This is used for support, and to discuss new business ideas.

We asked them what was it that developed trust in people that they met. The answers were interesting.

•Be crystal clear about what you do

•Get back to people quickly

•Practice Givers Gain – sometimes called pay it forward. In other words do favours for people you meet.

national presence takes companies online

We managed to establish what it was that encouraged individuals to go online. It turns out this is driven by the need or desire to be active on a national or international scale rather than just operate as a local business. Some of the findings are shown in this chart

Nationally focused companies are twice as likely to blog and use linked-in and twitter compared to locally focused companies (defined as having 80% of their business from within a 50 mile radius